Movable bridge, dock gate, and the like



NOV. 19, 1946. A, E, s, TEMPLE 2,411,480

MOVABLE BRIDGE,` ADOCK GATE, AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 22, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet l A. E. s. TEMPLE 2,411,480

MOVABLE BRIDGE, DOCK GATE, AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 22, 1945 4 {Sheets-Sheet. 2

Nov. 19, 1946.

Nov. 19, 1946. A. E. s. TEMPLE.

l MOVABLE BIDGE, DOCK GATE, AND THE LIKE 4 sheets-sheet 's Filed Dec. 22, 1945 www@ "N0v.19,1946. A,E.ST EMPLE 2,411,480,

`MOVABLE'BRIDGE, DOCK GATE, 'AND THE LIKE Filed Deo. 22, 1945 4 sheets-shea 4- frivf'afor i ammira 22W@ Patented Nov. 19, 1946 MOVABLE BRIDGE, DOCK GATE, AND THE LIKE Alan Edward Spence Temple, Godalming, England Application December 22, 1943, Serial No. 515,279 In Great Britain January 4, 1943 12 Claims. l

This invention comprises improvements in or relating to movable bridges, dock gates and the like. It is an object of the invention to provide means for moving a bridge, such for example as a bascule or like structure, which is heavy and which has to be periodically operated, which means are simpler and require a smaller power driving unit than is the case with constructions at present in use.

1n operating a bascule bridge through the usual mechanism of a driving (motor and reduction gearing a high starting eiiort is required from the motor on account of the weight of theV parts which have to be set in motion and the power oi the motor must be much greater than is necessary to complete the movement once the motion has been initiated. The saine applies to other heavy parts such as swing bridges, lock gates and the like. Moreover, eflicient braking means have to be provided to bring the parts to rest without shock at the end of the movement and with exactitude.

By the present invention the interposition of gearing for applying power to the moving parts and of separate braking means for stopping them may be entirely obviated. i

According to the present invention in movable bridges, dock gates and the like there are provided operating means comprising a oat operatively connected to the moving parts, a neat chamber in which the ioat moves and means to fill and empty the chamber so as to set the moving partsfin motion by the increase in eiiective weight of the 'float when the chamber is being emptied and by the decrease in effective Weight when the chamber is being filled.

The invention further includes a bascule bridge comprising in combination a tiltably-mounted bridge girder, a counterweight therefor and means to vary the effective Weight of the counterweight by adding or withdrawing liquid in contact therewith. In certain cases the weight of the counterweight may be varied by adding and withdrawing liquid` to and from chambers in the counterweight itself, but generally the counterweight is located in a float chamber and the means for introduction and withdrawal of liq- Y ment thereby cbviating the need of any separate braking device.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show specific examples of bascule bridges constructed in accordance with the invention. In the drawings: Y

Figure l is a longitudinal section through a bridge and operating parts therefor according to one construction, the section of Figure 1 being taken upon the lines I-I of Figures 2 and 3 with certain parts broken away to show other parts behind them;

Figure 2. is a cross section approximately upon the line 2-2 of Figure l but with certain parts broken away and with the right-hand part of th ligure shown in elevation;

Figure 3 isa plan, showing however the float chamber and adjacent parts in horizontal section; r

Figure Il is a vertical section through a regulating valve looking in the direction of thearrows 1 -4 ofFigure 5;

Figure 5 is a plan of the valve shown in Figure 4 with parts broken away toshow the internal construction Figures 6, 7 and 8 are diagrams of pipe connections;

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic side elevation, and

Figure i0 is a cross section of an alternative.V

construction of bridge.

Referring nrst to Figures 1 to 8, the bridge a roof section i5 which is `of the same heightas the door of the girder Il'and constitutes a roadway on to the bridge when the` girder Il is horizontal. 40n the pivot shaft I4 there are mounted three counterweights Il, I8, I9. The counterweights Il, I8 are located in chambers 2Q beneath theroadway I6 and balance the great-V er part of the weight of the girder I I. The coun- A terweight I9 is located in a iloat chamber 2|V to one side oftheroadway and the counterweight I9 is of suchweight that if the iioat chamber 2l, n is emptyk it will be'able to raise the girder I I into the position shown in chain lines in Figure weight i9, in Figure l, and the general shape of the oat chamber 2| in which the counterweight I9 works is that of a quadrant having a curved wall 24 nearly concentric with the shaft I4, a vertical Wall 25 shutting off the float chamber from the canal I2 and a top 28 which forms the underside of a reservoir 21 for liquid. Adjacent to the reservoir 21 there is a pump house 28, the reservoir 21 and pump houseV 23 being 1ocated to one side of the roadway.

In the space below the quadrantal wall 24 of the iioat chamber and of the adjacent chambers 28, which are of similar shape, there is formed a triangular reservoir or sump 29 which extends for the whole of the width of the structure I5, as best seen in Figure 2. In the pump chamber 28 is a centrifugal pump 39 driven by an electric motor 3|. The suction pipe 32 of the pump 38 is not shown in Figure 1,'but extends as indicated in Figures 6 to 8 from the sump 29 to the pump through a valve 33, the valve 33 being located in the pump house 28 so as to be readily accessible to the operator. The pump delivers through a pipe 34 to the reservoir 21. From the bottom of the reservoir 21 there eX- tends another pipe 35 to a regulating valve 35 which is located in a space at the bottom of one of the quadrantal chambers 28 but to one side of the path of the counterweight I1, close to the wall `of the float chamber I9. The valve 35 is operated by a handwheel 31 in the pump house 28 through a vertical shaft 33, gearing 39 and a second vertical shaft 48.

The pipe 35 beyond the valveA 35 opens into one side of an automatic regulating valve 4|. Beyond the automatic regulating valve 4I there is another hand-operated valve 42 which delivers by pip-e 43 into the sump 29. The valve 42 is operated by gearing 44, 45, a vertical shaft 48, gearing 41 and another vertical shaft 48 from aV hand-wheel 49 in the pump house 28. From the :automatic valve 4| there is a branch 50 extending through a regulating valve into the float chamber 2|.Y

The automatic valve 4I, which is shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5, will now be described.V The valve 4| is constituted by a rectangular boxshaped casing closed at each side by vertical side plates 53, 54, the inner faces 55 of which constitute valve faces. -Over these valve faces there slide regulating valve-plates 51, 58 and the adjacent edges 59, 58 of these plates determine by their distance apart the amount of the valve opening. f The plates 51, 53 slide over a port 5I which, asshown in Figure 4, is of a more or less triangular formation with its apex on the lef-t as viewed in the figure.

A branch connection 82 from the inlet conduit' 35 leads to two supplementary ports 53, 64 which areY shown in dotted lines in Figure 4 and co-operate with ports 85, 68 in the plate 58. A similar pair of plates 51, 58 operate on the outlet face formed by the inner face of the plate 54 of the valve 4I. The plates 51 carry racks 18 which engage with opposite sides of a pinion 1| mounted on a vertical operating shaft 12. Similarly'the plates 58 carry racks 61 which mesh with a pinion 68 on a vertical operating shaft 69. Thus when the shaft 12 is operated to move the plate 51 on the inlet 35 toward the left the corresponding plate on the outlet 43 will be 5 moved toward the right. Similarly when the shaft 89 is rotated to move the plate 58 to the left on the `inlet 35 the plate 58 on the outlet 43 will be moved in the opposite direction. Thus opening of the inlet 'will be accompanied by closing of the outlet and vice versa.

A bevel wheel 13 on the pivot shaft I4 operates a bevel wheel 14 on the upper end of the shaft 12. The shaft 89 is actuated, as best seen in Figure 2, by bevel gearing l5 from a horizontal shaft 18 which extends into the float chamber 2| and carries a pinion 11 operated by a spur gear 18 on a sleeve 19 which loosely surrounds the shaft I4. The sleeve 19 has an arm which carries a supplementary float 89 Working in the float chamber 2 I.

With a view to damping the movements of the girder Il the float I9 is made to fit between the walls of the float chamber 2| closely. Moreover buffers 98, 9| are provided, the former on 'i the underside of the horizontal Wall 26 and the latter on the inner side of the vertical wall 25. These buffers are of such size as nearly to fit into recesses 92, 93 which are formed in the couny,gterweight I9 and which are connected together 3o# by a conduit 94 passing through the counterweight. When the counterweight approaches the vertical wall 25 in the course of the lifting of the girder II, the recess 93 ts somewhat closely ,f 1, over the buier 9| and the liquid trapped between the buffer and the bottom of the recess 93 serves to damp the movement and to bring it to rest, liquid being forced out of the space between the buffer and the bottom of the recess through the conduit 94 and also around the sides of the buffer. :11u a similar way when the girder has almost reached the position where it abuts upon the the lowest position of the liquid level in the float chamber 2| is about that indicated by the mark Y.

82 in Figure 1 and in this position of the liquid u w the counterweight I9 will be held firmly in the rposition indicated by the chain lines in the gure. As soon as'the liquid level has risen to about the mark 83 by reason of the flow of liquid. from'the reservoir Y21 the pressure of the counterweight on 'thelbuffer 9| will be relieved 653 and further iiow of liquid into the floatchamber-will lower the girder gradually until when the level indicated by the mark 22 is reached the girder will rest upon the abutment I3. The position of the valves during this operation is 6iindicated in Figure 6, and if thereis any liquid remaining in the sump 29 during this operation the pump 38 can be kept running. It will therefore be appreciated that it is not necessary for the reservoir 21 to be completely'lled before "-llowering of the 'bridge takes place.

As the girder Il approaches the abutment I3 it is desirable that the rate of :dow of liquid into j the float chamber should be reduced.' 4The rise `of the supplementary iloat 88 operates shaft 99 'ltrand` tends to move the plate 58 to the left as viewed in Figure 4. As the girder descends it moves the valve plate 5l also to the left through the gearing connected with the shaft l2; Thus the plate 5l follows the plate 58 across the opening or port El, if the girder lags in its movement the rate of flow of liquid is automatically increased, but otherwise the plates keep about the same distance apart, and, the port 6| being of a triangular shape, as shown in the drawing 4, with its apex toward the left, the area open to the :dow of liquid is gradually reduced as the girder l i approaches the abutment I3 so that the movement be slowed down. The parts are so proportioned that when the girder reaches the abutment the port 6i will be wholly closed by plate 5i. Thereafter admission `ci? liquid` to the `float chamber can only take place by the ports Sd, @6 and 63, 55 which at this stage are brought into register with one another by movement of. plate 58 and allow a sufficient flow of water to continue until the level indicated by the mark 23 has been reached, when the girder l! will be resting irinly on the abutment 3. When the bridge is in the lowered position the valve 35 is closed and the valves thus assume the position shown in Figure 7.

When the bridge is to be raised a similar series of operations take place but in the reverse direction. The valve t2 is open, indicated in Figure 8, and liquid ilows out of the iioat chamber '2| into the sump 23. As the girder moves upward it moves the plates 5l, 58 across the opening of the valve l which lies on the opposite side from the port Si, shown in Figure 4, and regulates the flow into the conduit 5.13 in a similar way to that already described for the regulation ci the flow within the conduit The girder is therefore moved steadily upwards and broughtJ gently to rest in its uppermost position.

The pump 3G can be set running soon as there is any liquid in sump 29, that is to say, as soon as the bridge commences to rise, and the reservoir 2 can, if desired, be made to hold enough liquid to lower the bridge twice, so that in practice even if conditions cali for as much as three successive lowerings in a sho-rt period, a pump which can raise only enough liquid to operate the bridge once in this time will suffice.

It will be noted that the valve 5i which connects the automatic valve di with the float chamber 2! is permanently open except when it is necessary to effect some attention to the parts in the chamber 2i?, which can be done by a workman descending into the chamber. The valve 5|, therefore, unlike the valves 3b and 42, is not provided with a control operable from the pump house 28.

It is to be observed that although the counterweight has been referred to as a float it need not, in itself, be lighter than the liquid and indeed would not normally be so as the counterweight is in the main balanced by the weight of the girder and the liquid only has to exert a sufficient buoyancy to overcome the excess weight of the counterweight and to hold the bridge, when it is down, firmly down on its abutment.

It is further to be observed that when the bridge is being lifted or lowered there is an automatic action with the construction described which tends to compensate for the effects of wind forces, which, as is well known, may be considerable. Should the wind blow on the girder in Vsuch a direction as to tend to depress it, the counterweight is lifted further out of the liquid, increasing the effect of the weight and thus resist- 6 ing the pressure of the wind. Qn the other hand if the wind blows on the girder in such a direction as to tend to lift it the counterweight will be depressed and the liquid level in the float chamber will be raised. Owing to the narrow space between .the sides of the counterweight and the sides of the oat chamber, the variations of liquid level produced in the float chamber by these actions of wind will be quite high for a small movement of the girder and therefore the compensating effect is considerable and the girder will tend to move but little under the iniluence of wind; taken in conjunction with the damping action on the movement which the liquid exerts this makes for a stable action of the bridge. As already pointed out, when the bridge is lowered the liquid level is made high enough to hold the girder down firmly on its outer abutment; in the same way when the bridge is raised the liquid level is made low enough for the float to be held firmly against the abutment in the float chamber; thus there is no tendency for the bridge to swing out of raised position under wind forces.

Referring now to Figures 9 and 10, these show the construction of a rolling bascule bridge in accordance with the invention. The bridge comprises a triangulated girder |00 which spans an opening lill and rests at its free end upon an abutment |2. At the other end the sides |63 of the girder are connected to a heavy transverse shaft |94 which is located at the centre of the rolling surfaces |65 of the bascule. The rolling surfaces are formed upon two large counterweights |06, |01 which are carried on plates |03, |09 rigidly secured to the ends of the shaft |04. The counterweights |96, |01 are `spaced by the shaft |04 from the sides of the girder |93 and the counterweights rest on the bottomvof float chambers HD, The float chambers are shaped to be a fairly close t against the sides of the counterweights and to afford no more than enough' room for the weights to roll back into the position in which the girder lil is fully lifted. The bottoms of the float chambers H0, are provided with heavy rolling plates or sole plates on which the surfaces m5 can roll with ease and preferably oil is used as the floating medium in the iioat chambers H0, `||I. Appropriate sump, reservoir and pumping apparatus is provided, which is not shown in thedrawings, so that the float chambers l I0 and l can be filled or emptied at will. When the float chambers are filled `to the level indicated by the chain line ||3 the girder l5!! will reach abutment |92 and on being further lled to the level indicated by the chain line I 4 the girder will be pressed rmly down upon the abutment. The weight ||5 is an additional counterweight mounted directly upon a rearward extension of the girder |00. -The oil in the oat chambers tends to keep the rolling surfaces clean and to reduce operating friction.

the case of a swing bridge or dock gates the counterweight can be connectedto the bridge girder or to the gates by an appropriate linkwork. Again it is possible with a swing bridge to ineke the girder pivot spherical so that the girder is free not only to swing laterally but also to rise and fall. A counterweight can be provided to the girder that rides in a quadrantal tank or oat chamber concentric with the spherical pivot and a cam may be provided which extends around the quadrantal wall of the float chamber and engages a roller on the counterweight. The effect is that if the tank is emptied the counterweight presses on the cam and the cam deects the bridge around the quadrant, allowing the coun`v terweight to fall while the bridge is swinging; the

bridge therefore falls Vat thecounterweight endv and rises at its opposite end while swinging round the pivot and executes a movementwhich is a combination' of a lifting and a swinging movement.

I claim:

l. A bascule bridge comprising in combination a tiltably-mounted bridge girder, a counterweight rigidly connected Vthereto and means tofvary at will the effective weight of the counterweight by adding or withdrawing liquidin contact there` with under the control ofthe operator.

2. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 1, wherein the counterweight is located in a iloat chamber so as to constitute a float therein and the means for introduction and withdrawal o liquid are constituted by means for varying the iiquid level in the float chamber.

3. A bascule bridge comprising in combination a bridge girder which is mounted on a pivot, a counterweight rigidly secured to the bridge girder and projecting beyond the pivot, a float chamber in which the counterweight moves and means to vary the liquid level inlthe float chamber to raise and lower the girder.

4. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the counterweight and oat chamber are located beneath the oor level of the bridge.

5. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein an additional counterweight is provided, not located in the float chamber, the counterweights being secured upon the pivot shaft of the l bridge girder.

6. A bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ow of liquid out of the float chamber forv the purpose of'raising' the bridge is effected by gravity and the rate of flow is regulated automatically so as to be reduced as the bridge rises by means of a valve operated by the moving parts of the bridge.

'7. A bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ilow of liquid out of the'iioat chamber for .the

chamber, movable valve means in the regulating valve operatively connected to the counterweight to be actuated thereby, other movable valve means in the regulating valve operatively connected to a supplementary iioat in the float chamber to be actuated thereby, the operative connections to both said movable valve means being such that during supply of liquid to the float chamber the movable valve means move together across a shaped inlet port to reduce the rate of ow as the bridge descends and during raising of the bridge other parts of both said movable valve means move together across a shaped outlet port to reduce the flow towards the end of the rise of the girder.

9. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein a reservoir is provided above the level of the float chamber and the filling of the float chamber is eiected through a communication` conduit extending from the reservoir to the oat chamber and controlled by a regulating valve i the conduit.

10. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the float chamber is connected by a conduit to a sump, the conduit containing a regu',- lating valve, and the sump is located beneath the level of the oat chamber so that the chamber can be emptied by gravity.

il. A bascule bridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the means for varying the liquid level in the float chamber comprise a reservoir above the level of the oat chamber, a sump below the level of the float chamber, conduit means connecting the reservoir, the sump and the oat chamber together, regulating valve means in said conduit, means for permitting liquid to flow from the reservoir into the float chamber when desired and from the float chamber into the sump when desired and a pump for raising liquid from the sump to the reservoir.

12. A bridge comprising in combination a roll' ing bascule girder, a :float-chamber located on` each side of said girder at one of the abutments thereof, two counterweights, one on each side of the girder, secured to the girder and each dipping into one of the float-chambers, the two counterweights being shaped to provide rolling surfaces which roll on the abutments of the floatchambers and means to introduce or withdraw liquid to or from the float-chamber at will for raising and lowering the girder.

ALAN EDWARD SPENCE TEMPLE. c 

